Happy Thankgiving!

My circadian rhythms are crying out for turkey and pumpkin pie. You can put the American in Canada, but you can't take Thanksgiving out of the American!

For all of my life Thanksgiving morning meant the Turkey Bowl, and annual fundraiser where I grew up. Sometimes it included the Turkey Trot- a 10k run that was also a fundraiser. It always meant lots of pie thanks to my Grandma Babe.

One year Robin counted the pies and realized we actually had a pie-per-person for Thanksgiving Day. Now that's what I'm talking about! Pumpkin, apple, peach, blueberry, pecan- you name it, she made it.

While it may not be thanksgiving for many others around me- I am still thankful:

• Thankful for the freedom to be in Canada planting a church. This is the greatest adventure ever!
• Thankful for the amazing things happening in lives through Connections.
• Thankful for my extended family who are so willingly going to feast with us tonight ( I know- it's a big sacrifice to come over for turkey, sweet potatoes and pie).
• Thankful for all the many friends we have made the past two years.
• Thankful that they all put up with, or just laugh at, all my "American-isms."
• Thankful for Dana who gave Robin and I tickets to the Grand Theatre tonight- what an awesome way to celebrate!
• Thankful that I will NOT be shopping tomorrow in the states. So very, very thankful.
• Thankful for my three kids- the greatest kids in the history of kids! Eden, Karis, Justin- You ROCK!
• Thankful for my amazing, drop-dead-gorgeous, frighteningly intelligent, remarkably creative, culinary extrodinare, and most Godly woman in the world wife- Robin. You are my Shibboleth.

But most of all, I am every thankful to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Thank you for loving me, for saving me, for using a man like me.

Monday's Musings

My first reflection this morning- It's not Monday. I'm late.

• The coffee was AMAZING on Sunday- Haitian Blue Fairtrade from Fire Roasted Coffe right here in London. Buy it. Brew it. Drink it. Give thanks to God!
• The cups are now bio-degradable- the next best thing to bringing your own!
• Evan did an amazing job for his first time leading worship at Connections. Now I'm sorry I made fun of guys who wear pants so tight they need vasoline to put them on. Forgive me Evan, and wear whatever you want- just keep leading worship like that!
• Robin cracks me up! And I forgive her. Read here if you want to know the story.
• The message on revenge touched a nerve. I've had some amazing follow-up conversations. People really have some heart breaking stories. I mean HEART BREAKING! I've heard things since Sunday that make me want to kick-butt and take revenge. But we have to break free from this poison before it kills us. You can listen to the message online if you missed it Sunday. http://www.connectionschurch.ca/sermons.html
• I'm still all messed up (in a good way) from the conference last week. I'll need to post more to process my thoughts.

Peace,
G

Sorry: The Game of Sweet Revenge

Fredrick Beuchner wrote-

of all the deadly sins resentment, or anger, appears to be the most fun. To lick your wounds and savor the pain you will give back is in many ways a feast fit for a king. But in the end it turns out that what you are eating at the banquet of bitterness is your own heart. The skeleton at the feast is you. You start out holding a grudge, but in the end the grudge holds you!

Listen to the whole sermon online at www.connectionschurch.ca or read the manuscript at cccsermons.blogspot.com

Sorry: The Game of Sweet Revenge

I think I need to say "I'm sorry" in advance of this coming Sunday.
We're in our "Game of Life" series.
Two weeks ago we talked about playing around with sex, and that applies to just about everyone.
Last week week looked at money, and again, everyone has to deal with and manage money.

But this week we are looking at "Sorry: The Game of Sweet Revenge."
So I have to apologize that this won't apply to many people.
Because very few people have ever felt hurt by someone.
Very few have ever had something unfair said about them or done to them.
And certainly, very few of us have ever entertained thoughts of anger, bitterness, and the desire for revenge.

But for the few of us who have ever looked inside ourselves and realized we've wrestled with these thoughts; for those of us who can confess that we've actually fantasized about getting some sweet payback or seeing someone "get what's coming to them," maybe this message will mean something to you.

(And if it isn't totally obvious yet- I think this message may be the most important message I've ever given at Connections. You don't want to miss this!)

Catalyst so far...

So far, so AWESOME!
Very worth my time to come down to Granger, experience this church, and listen to these speakers.
Here are some quotes of things they're talking about which have stuck out for me...

"Minor improvements to things that are broke are usually still broken."
~ Andy

"Make Sunday better on Sunday" (meaning, don't wait until Monday to evaluate- if something can be improved immediately, then improve it! But of course, evaluate the worship service in detail on Monday!)
~ Andy

"Chaos comes with momentum, and it must be managed. But don't manage away the momentum."
~ Andy

"The helpless church throws up it's hands and says, 'Why won't our people....?' The empowered church asks, 'How can we lead our people to...?"
~ Craig

"Don't hire for today. Hire for tomorrow."
~ Craig

And by far my LEAST favorite quote:
George, to Andy and Craig,

"Can I treat you guys to lunch?"

Craig to George, after a moment of silence...

"Well, we have plans already."

Oh well, you gotta try. At least they know my name now.

Next session about to start, later!

Catalyst

I'm getting ready to head to Indiana for a conference at Granger Church with my friend Mike. It's gonna be great. I'm hoping to hunt down the speakers tonight- Andy Stanley and Craig Groschel. I'm praying that they are staying at the Super 8. We could meet in the hot tub!

Of the many conferences out there here's why this one interests me: technology. More than any other churches these guys are leading the way. Communicating the gospel in the current languages of technology. They have something to teach me.
They are also many steps ahead of Connections. I want to hear how they got from the vision, to the first steps, to the amazing movements they've become.

• What did they do right?
• Where were their mistakes?
• How did they transition to staff?
• How did they transition to multi-services, multi-site?
• How do they get so many volunteers engaged?
• How do they get so many enrolled in home groups?
• How did the grow their media and worship elements?

OK, I'll just stop there. I'll never get all my questions answered, but I'll try to get at least three ideas to implement.

I'll let you know what I come up with.

The E Word

I must confess something- I throw the word "empower" around way too much. I throw it around because I want it to characterize my life, the lives of others, Connections, etc. But saying it, like so many things, is not the same as doing it, experiencing it, and growing it.

A lesson I learned a long time ago was the difference between asking somebody to do something, and giving them something to do. More often it is better to give someone something. By this I mean you walk along side of them, show them what you are doing, or what you hope will be done, and when the time is right, you give it over to them. You pass the baton, so to speak.

But there is another step- actual empowerment. When someone can take that task, that job, that thing, and truly own it. Then grow it. I found this list online that helped be think through the importance of true empowerment:

Empowerment is obviously better. But it can be overwhelming. There is a time to delegate and things to be delegated. But as the job/ministry/relationship matures, so should the level of empowerment.

Let me know if you have any great insights, articles, examples of empowering people for serving God. I'd love to grow in this area.

Food for Thought...

I pulled this off of one of the blogs I read.
What is so interesting is that this morning I read another post titled "Stop Marketing Your Church." It was Ok.

This was far more interesting because this is written by someone from outside of the church trying to offer us pastors advice. It got me thinking...

October 21, 2008

Time for an Almighty Rebrand

I found myself in a rather unusual position last weekend - on a pew in a church in Glasgow. One of my oldest friends was having his first born christened. He had managed, with the convincing promise of a post-ceremonial drinking session, to convince me to attend the event. So there I sat. In the back row. Dreading everything that the next hour promised to deliver.

To my surprise, however, the priest gave an extremely interesting and contemporary sermon. He talked about a Tom Cruise movie, post-modern philosophy and, of course, God. Despite, or indeed perhaps because of, his eloquence I began to consider all the factors that have deterred me and the majority of the British public from attending church regularly. This is, after all, a marketing problem: why don't people consume God?

We live in a society that has never needed God more. We are confused, unhappy, depressed, lacking spirituality, and lonely. Aside from previous world wars, the demand for God has presumably never been higher.

Despite this a recent survey estimated that the church's market share in the UK is only 7.5% of the population, and falling. The problem must therefore exist on the supply side. During the communion I worked out some marketing recommendations to solve the problem.

First, the effort to restore credibility in the ongoing wake of sex scandals must not wane. Transparency and complete disclosure is paramount.

Second, we have to change the leadership structure. Archbishops are not just leaders of the faith they are CEOs. We need men and women who understand God (on the supply side) but also the public (on the demand side) and have a strong sense of strategy (ideally a good MBA).

Third, the positioning of the church is wrong. We need to connect it with the needs of today's society not those of past generations, and it will take qualitative and quantitative research to identify these.

We will also need to position God against the true competition - consumer culture. People now get their answers from the brands that they consume.

We all question the value of different brands and ads within our culture, but never the consumer culture itself. Religion must reclaim its territory by showing consumer culture to be a less meaningful method for living out your life.

Fourth, we have to completely revisit the church's approach to marketing communications. Tatty pamphlets and screen-printed posters are ineffective, and aimed exclusively at existing worshippers. We need an integrated marketing communications strategy that embraces advertising (especially radio), direct marketing, PR, and a strong online presence.

Fifth, we need to scrap the traditional church interior. Hard pews and exposed brickwork are not consistent with market-oriented religion. Let's hire Imagination, the brand experience people, to come up with a better contextual setting for experiencing God.

How do we pay for this? Out with the weekly collection: is there any better example of the archaic status of the church than a bowl being passed around for loose change? Instead we will bring in a CRM strategy with different payment plans including easy-pay direct debit.

Society cries for salvation, but God's brand needs an overhaul. Will it work? God only knows.

Sponsored By: Brand Aid

Monday's Musings

Yesterday was one of the most challenging sermons I've ever preached.
It goes like this:

We have to talk about money- the bible talks about it.
We have to talk about money- it's a reality of our lives and a HUGE area of stress and confusion for many people.
But, it's such a sore spot for churches and people.

It's hard for people- we love to talk about money, just not our own money. More specifically, our spending habits.
It's hard for churches- we don't want to ever appear motivated by profit or greed.

I outlined the simple financial plan I was taught: 10-10-80
Give 10%
Save 10%
Live on 80%
As time passes, try to increase the first two.

I was given some great opportunities by my family. I was able to enter adulthood debt free.
Robin and I entered our marriage debt free. We've lived relatively simply ever since. We even lived in a dorm apartment the first 6 years of our marriage- now that's simple!
So we've given, we've saved, and we haven't gone into debt. (Actually, we have- we have a mortgage. I'm told not to think of that like debt, but I do. It still bugs me that we haven't paid off our house yet- but I'm working on it!)

For too long I thought I had it all figured out by living within our means.
But preparing for yesterday's message has really got me thinking and studying finances.

• Why do I still not really enjoy the spending part of my budget?
• Why do I resist firming up a budget that accounts for my spending before it happens?
• What would my giving look like if I took this more seriously?
• How far ahead might I be if I paid more attention to my savings?

My father once told me there are three stages to a mans life:

• First he's obsessed with sex.
• Then he's obsessed with money.
• I'm not saying what the third stage is.
• Nor am I saying I'm out of the first stage (Robin is so hot!)

But I've actually been praying, yes PRAYING, that I start to care much more about money.

• I'm praying I care enough to budget better.
• To give more.
• To save more strategically.
• And to enjoy spending.

The thing I realize is that I'm going to need help to do all this. I'm not wired to figure this all out by myself. I'm excited to see what unfolds. I'm also planning to preach a series on finances next year- tentatively set for April (I know- it's appropriate).

Until then we'll see how we get through this recession, the holidays, and who knows what else!
But no matter what happens I think we are entering a new age of living a more simple, more frugal life style. It's combination of new economic realities and changing cultural sensibilities.

But like I said, I'm no expert...yet.

Monopoly: Playing with Money

Perhaps there's only one thing more awkward than talking about sex in church- it's talking about money and spending habits.
So during this uncertain economic climate, join us this Sunday and prepare to feel even more uncomfortable!

Actually, I think it's going to be great, and it will be a great service to invite your friends. Chances are, if they are like the average Canadian...

• They are EXTREMELY WORRIED about the economy right now,
• have no idea how much they spend,
• don't know how to set or live on a budget,
• are up to their armpits in debt,
• have never experienced the peace of financial margin,
• have never known the joy of giving,
• and would list money as one of the biggest sources of anxiety in their life.

Connectors, we need to hear some good news in money matters. So join us Sunday morning, 10am at Silvercity Movie Theatre.

Operation Christmas Child

We've distributed more than 70 "Operation Christmas Child" boxes at Connections the past month. But all those boxes mean nothing unless you...

BRING THEM BACK TO CONNECTIONS THIS SUNDAY! NOVEMBER 16!

That's right, bring them back, filled of course, to help make this a very special season for kids all around the world. If you want to find out more about the project go to http://www.samaritanspurse.ca/occ/

If you didn't get a box and still want to participate, or if you miss our drop-off date, just go to The Upper Room Bookstore, 1695 Wonderland Rd. N London, ON.

Encouragement to our Volunteers

Connectors,

I am humbled to say that we've seen more than 200 people in worship for a month now!
More important is that behind those numbers are stories of changed lives. Some AMAZING stories.
God must be up to something, because none of us can take the credit.
But I will give you credit for this...

There is no way we could be doing without all of you!
You have risen to this occasion- you show up early on Sundays, you help out where ever it's needed, you do whatever it takes to create an amazing worship experience.

• From the friendly faces greeting guests;
• To a great cup of coffee;
• To clean, organized, AWESOME children programs;
• To our rocking music!

You all amaze me!
(And this is just on Sunday mornings! I know how much you do throughout the week in Connection Groups, in practice, in preparations, in visits and in prayer.)

As we come into the Christmas season we are going to see even more people coming to Connections, and connecting with God. We need to be ready.

So here are my top three reminders for our volunteers:
1. USE PLANNING CENTER! When you get an invitation to serve, accept or decline, don't ignore! Even better- block out dates! Take a few minutes, look at your calendar, and block out dates you can't or do not wish to volunteer. If you don't know how to use planning center online, ask for help!

2. The Sunday service starts at 9:30am. Take your role seriously because you are in a position of influence. How you do, or don't do, your job reflects on all of Connections. Please do it well. Greet warmly, usher lovingly, serve kids happily, play music joyfully... OWN YOUR JOB!

3. If you do the top two suggestions, there is no third! Our volunteers will be coordinated, prepared and in place. And if we do that, people are going to be AMAZED at what they experience on a Sunday morning.

• When someone greets them at the door, a wall comes down.
• When they are offered a cup of coffee, they begin to feel welcomed.
• When they see the family ministry team in place, they know we care.
• When they walk into the theatre, we begin to rock their world.
• When they see you worship, they want to worship too.
• When they hear God's word, their life can be changed forever!

This Christmas season I'm praying we see many, many people to receive the greatest gift of all- Life in Jesus Christ!
God is out there folks- He's changing people's lives, loving the lost and lonely. We can be a part of it if we choose.

I love you guys!
George

Being the Church

I just had the chance to help facilitate our ALPHA group tonight.
I didn't really have to be there- the people were more than capable of having dinner and conversation without me. But it was nice to feel needed.
But even better to just join in with a great group of people.

The topic of our video and discussion was the church. At first it felt a little weird (for me) to be the pastor of the church where these folks worship and to lead a genuine conversation regarding church. But all I have to say now is WOW! I think I learned more about being the church from this conversation than half the books I've read on church.

One comment from the video that impacted me and filtered into the conversation was this:

The question isn't are you going to church? The question is, are you going to be the church?

(At least that's how I remember it.)
When we grasp the biblical fact that church is not a building, meeting, or any one group, it begins to transform our understand. We begin to grasp that the church is actually us. It's not about going to church anymore, because we are the church, and the church is us, with us, in us. It begins to get into our DNA, and into the DNA of the people we gather with. It's like a shirt I saw one of our folks wearing:

"The Church has left the building."

Connections is a church because it's people connected to God and one another in Jesus. We aren't a building. We aren't even the church that meets in a theatre. We are the people of God, a holy temple, the body of Christ.

Tonight I had an amazing experience of church, because I was with some amazing people.

"Friendly" Church

I don't think there is a church in existence that would say it's "unfriendly."
According to statistics from Natural Church Development, nearly all churches mark "Welcoming" and "Friendly" as a high strength.
But they are dead wrong.

People mistake "having friends" with "being friendly." And once a church has people that are friends, they run the real danger of becoming unfriendly to outsiders.

I do a bit of speaking at other ministry events. (By the way, Connections doesn't really do special events- we want to make every worship service special, and one that our regular attenders will want to invite friends to experience.) I am never surprised by the lack of friendliness.

Now of course I find some friendly people, but I take note of all the little things:
The parking attendant who makes me feel like an idiot for not knowing where to park.
The greeter who looks like they just ate a lemon.
The stack of programs on a table, but no one to give them out.

Now I also can feel a bit put-out walking by a large group of people who are having a good time and who don't even turn to acknowledge me. But I focus on the people in the visible roles of leadership. When someone is wearing a shirt, a volunteer tag or clearly in a volunteer role, there is NO excuse for unfriendliness.

Now I write all this because of my concern- people are starting to become friends at Connections. And therefore I KNOW that we run the risk of becoming unfriendly.

So to my peeps at Connections- make friends, but stay friendly. The first impression can make or break someones decision.

The Game of LIFE: Twister!

I just finished the first draft of my manuscript for Sunday's message,

"Twister: Playing with Sex"

And let me assure you, this is definitely rated PG, maybe even PG-13.

This message is going to knock your socks off!! (That pun was definitely intended!)
We are going to talk about this game of sex and how it's played right. We will talk about winning this game, because God made sex and has a plan and purpose in making us sexual beings. This won't be graphic, but it will be real.

Singles and young people- you want to hear this message. This is not a game you want to lose- too much is at stake.

Parents, we are adding a classroom for our adolescents. For your kids under 10, you may want to take advantage of this.

See you Sunday!

Getting Excited

Are you getting excited about church? If not, something is wrong.
With the church.
With you.
Or a combination.

The church should be a source of the most exciting, inspiring, engaging things in your life.

We think that by creating committees and congregational meetings people will feel a part of the church. They'll feel "ownership." And accordingly, they will be excited.

Let's follow that line of thinking:
I own car.
A Ford Taurus. A good, reliable, economical car.
But I've never once been excited about my Ford Taurus.
In fact owning the car, while practical, useful, and ultimately worth the time and trouble, is more of an excitement killer than excitement producer.

A lot of things we hope will create ownership and excitement about church really end up creating frustration and resentment. Committee's for example, are usually just one more meeting, one more argument, one more belabored decision making process that didn't really have to happen.

A committee doesn't need to decide on the bulletin. 2-3 people need to work on it.
A group doesn't need to a review web designs- 2 people should stay on the cutting edge.

I would rather have fewer people working in more specific areas in which they actually exercise their gifts and decision making.

But I'm left wondering where we can get a lot of people feeling empowered in the church? Right now, at our size, we still have more needed jobs to be done than people to fill them. But I'm trying to think ahead.

One thing has been on my mind lately in this area- I get so excited about upcoming series. I think about them, pray about them, study for them. So I'm bursting at the seams before they start.
How can I share this excitement?
By more collaboration.
I want to get more people contributing more ideas to our series.

Imagine the excitement generated if just 50 people feel a part of the upcoming series- they've contributed ideas, art, music, video, drama or other insights. They each have 5-10 people that they share this excitement with.
We have 250-500 people getting excited about a series before it even starts.
Because they were a part of forming it, or know someone intimately who has shared their excitement.
That's the power of actually getting excited about church.

Team Leadership- from Lifechurch

I agree with everything he writes...

Team Leadership

Posted: 04 Nov 2008 04:13 AM CST

I don’t like committees. Big groups of people rarely make the best decisions and often slow things down.

When I talk about leading as a team, I am NOT talking about ministry by committees.

On any good team, there is a head coach. Someone must be in charge. But if the coach is wise, he’ll build a team of coaches.

In any ministry, I suggest the following:

• One leader who is ultimately responsible for the direction of the ministry.
• Three to seven people who become some sort of a leadership team. (Two is not enough. Three drastically improves the dynamics. More than seven becomes bulky. For some reason, I like odd numbers.) This could be an advisory team, executive team, leadership team, directional team, or whatever suits your purposes.
• When possible, the people on the team should be a diversified group.
• Each person has an equal voice—but the leader reserves the right to make the final call. (On our team, it has been years since I have overridden the wisdom of the team. I still reserve the right at any time to make the hard call.)

Monday's Musings

Robin and I have been frustrated lately with people's lack of vision. We've been asking people, good people, God-loving people, what God has been doing in their life lately. Many look back at us with a vacant stare. It's like we're speaking another language. They don't get the question. It's sad.

If God so love the world he sent his one and only Son...
If the Son loves us so much he came to us...
If he died for us...
If he rose from the grave to conquer sin and death...
If he ascended into heaven and sent us the Holy Spirit...
If the Holy Spirit lives in us...
And if Jesus is coming back...
And if we really believe that God is active and alive...
And that we have a RELATIONSHIP with God through Jesus...
(and not just a religion we practice)

Then is only makes sense that we should see God doing things in our world and in our lives!

This is NOT putting God to the test.
This is putting us to the test.

If you don't see God doing stuff in your life, the problem isn't God.
It's you.
Because I can promise you that God is alive,
and doing stuff.

So pray that you actually move from religion to relationship. From believing, to participating. Pray that you'll have eyes to see and ears to hear how God is at work.
And pray that you can be a part of it.

Don't be surprised when He answers. Be grateful.

The Game of LIFE: Trivial Pursuit

November 2, 2008

The words of the teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem:

Meaningless! Meaningless! Says the teacher.
Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless!

Ecclesiastes 1:1-2

This month we are going to look at how we play certain games, and in looking at how we play these games I think we are going to learn more about ourselves than countless hours of conversation. I think that as we examine how we play certain areas of life, we are going to uncover a lot of stuff inside of us. A lot of stuff that we might not be aware of. A lot of stuff that has gone unexamined in our lives. Stuff that impacts what we think about ourselves and how we play out our lives. We are going to look into some very specific games that will reveal some very specific things in us.

But the things we are talking about are not ultimate just a bunch of "games." Losing is really going to cost you. Losing can even cost you your life. SO we are going to look at how these games are played, what are the rules, what's at stake, what losing means, and what winning will look like. We want you to win in every one of these areas of life!

We are going to look at Twister: Playing with Sex. How we play out sex is going to tell us a whole lot about what we think of ourselves, others, relationships and life. PLEASE TAKE NOTE- this will be rated PG-13. We will be offering an extra classroom next week in one of our theatres for your children.

We are looking at Monopoly- Playing with Money. How we play with our finances is going to reveal so much about our values.

We are looking at SORRY- the game of sweet revenge. WOW, this is going to shed light on our view of relationships and forgiveness.

Finally we are looking at one of my favorites- RISK- the game of world domination. In this message I’m going to reveal my personal plan for world domination- just kidding. I’m not revealing that plan just yet.

But we start by taking a more birds eye view, looking at a classic game- Trivial Pursuit.

This morning as we talk I want you to consider two game boxes- one is titled Trivial Pursuit, just like the game. The other here is called Meaningful Pursuit. Obviously, I want you to see this as an analogy of your life. And as we talk this morning, I want you to consider which box better represents the way you are playing the game of life. Which game are you really working at- is the sum total of your life a game of Trivial Pursuit?
Or is the sum total of your life a Meaningful Pursuit?

Listen to the sermon at www.connectionschurch.ca